Update:
The Elder Scrolls Online is expected to remain offline until about 9am PT/12pm ET:
@Fooseywoosey We’re aiming to have the #PS4 megaservers back online around 12PM (noon) EDT. We’ll tweet as soon as maintenance is done.
— Elder Scrolls Online (@TESOnline) July 29, 2015
You can check out full details on today’s update over here.
Original Story:
Likely lasting for a few hours, The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited for PlayStation 4 will be taken offline today for patch maintenance.
Beginning at 3am PT/6am ET/11am BST, the patch maintenance will take The Elder Scrolls offline in both North America and Europe, ahead of the release of a new game update. While we don’t know exactly what the new update will fix, the game’s official Twitter account said, “Yes, tomorrow’s PS4 patch will contain the fix for The Prisoner of Jathsogur. Thanks for your patience!”
The previous patch for The Elder Scrolls Online on PS4, 1.04, was a 15.9GB download. When it released last month, the developers said, “We understand that the patch size is frustrating and are working to ensure future #ESOTU PS4 patches are not cumulative.”
Stay tuned for full details on the PS4 update to The Elder Scrolls Online, including patch notes and download size.
In the meantime, you can read our review and check out the content coming in September and beyond.
[Source: The Elder Scrolls Online (Website, Twitter)]
Essential Reading:
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10 Game Mechanics That Need to Evolve (or Die)
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10 Game Mechanics That Need to Evolve (or Die)
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Tutorials
Recommendation: Banish them entirely. Use contextual in-game scenarios to showcase more complex tasks. Let players play! They'll figure it out or teach one another.
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Item Pickups
Recommendation: Small, manageable inventories are great. Don't design quests and games that require the player to have 37 pinecones on hand just in case.
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Fetch Quests
Recommendation: Provide a main quest that is so expansive and diverse it allows for organic tangents that feel important. Fetch quests are artificial bulk. Get rid of them. Invest the time in a main quest that satisfies for 40+ hours instead and my time will feel valued.
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Inventory Systems
Recommendation: It doesn’t take a lot of effort to find creative ways for game worlds to make sense. In The Witcher 3's case, why not add an option for the banks in Novigrad to not only exchange currency, but allow you store items in safety deposit boxes?
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Minimaps
Recommendation: Allow for maps in towns. Outside of that, no map, no icons, until you explore the area. Create a world that can help players find their way intuitively without a map using landmarks, signposts, and NPCs that can offer more than grunts and stock expressions.
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Quicksave/Quickload
Recommendation: If games insist on traditional save/load mechanics, integrate it into the control scheme. Here’s a freebie, double-tap the touchpad to save, hold it to load. I’m positive that will lead to absolutely zero accidental saves...
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Character Momentum
Recommendation: Just pay Naughty Dog for their player momentum algorithms and be done with it.
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Fast Travel
Recommendation: All killer, no filler. Don’t make me backtrack unnecessarily. Use fast travel any time it keeps a player’s progress moving forward and avoid ever making a player move backward.
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Weapon Types
Recommendation: Have fun with weapon types. If you must have an axe and a sword, make them play differently. Not just heavy swing vs light swing, let it impact the way a character is responded to, let it affect the way a character develops, etc. If your game can’t include explosive teddy bears, then do some research to find the medieval equivalent to one (there totally is one).
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Dialog Options
Recommendation: Player choice will grow and become more complex as technology (and budgets) advance. But if a game cannot (or does not) provide the foundation for meaningful dialog options, don’t include it. It weakens your story and insults the player.